Moving to Spain...marbella, estepona or benalmadena?

hello everyone. I am movin to spain with my family(two kids and wife). My kids are 4 and 5 years old and I want to put them on a private school in one of the above named cities. I would like to rent for 6 months and make the decision if I will be building my own house or buying a ready made-villa. Here are my following questions fo each of the cities seperate: cost of living monthly for marbella/estepona/benalmadena? Availability of good private schools and their yearly cost foreach of these cities? Being bothered by tons of tourists for each of the cities? Recreation for the kids for each of the cities? And general advise andopinion for each of the cities? Thank you

Well I hope you have deep pockets you will need at least 500,000 euros private schools 30k minimum pa 200m2 villa 400,000 euros 700m2 plot 6 mths at 2000 euros modest spend living costs 

Come on how many young familys have that money wake up fella stay in Latvia at least the beautiful creatures exist there.

Love Hughsie xx

Thanks for your reply hughsie. But your are not the one to judge if I should come or not...you haven't seen mine bankaccount, have you? I am not dreaming, I am a realist in life! I am not coming there to look for work; I would rather start a small business not get bored actually. I still didn't got any answer about which city from the thee cities I named above,,,,thank you

Ok if you are sure you know what you are doing thats fine

All the towns are roughly the same in size Estepona very spanish Marbella mixed culture Benalmadena full of drunken kids and adults for that matter not safe at night watch Costa Del Crime on TV it will give you an insight http://vimeo.com/15985938 this is the trailer you will have to hunt for the individual shows

With a young family you would be safer in Estepona and it has schools galore and has recreation facilities and cheaper to live as not so comercialised

You are in cloud cuckoo land if you head for Spain they are in the S--t and will be for many years if you are unskilled expect a low salary the Coast is very expensive to live on in general you need 2000 euros to bring a family up per month any less and you will be destitute

I am sorry to burst your bubble but I only give straight answers ask any one on this site

Good Luck in your venture

Hugh

We have some friends who live near Manilva and send their two kids to a colegio (San something or other) in Estepona. Fees are €550 a month for the first child and €450 for the second. She tells me that's about average but some charge up to around a thousand a month per child. Of course, if you do decide to live there permanently then the state schools are very good and at those ages it would be ideal as they pick up the language quite easily.

I don't know about the other areas as I've only visited but 2 bed apartments in Manilva were going for around 500 to 550 euro a month so you could probably estimate it from there. That was for long term contracts. 

A 3 bed detached villa with garage and large garden was up for sale at €229.500 fully furnished but there were others at lower and higher costs.

Sorry, but as I've said I don't know what city living in that area is like.

Hi Arian,

There can be big differences in living costs - a menu del dia where I am in Murcia costs a lot less than all the 3 places you mention.  I reckon that Marbella is probably the most expensive, but if money is no object this comment is probably of little value!

If you are sticking to the 3, from the limited info you've mentioned I would try Estepona first, then Marbella, then Benalmadena.

But pity you're restricting yourself to CDS as I would say that Valencia is the best place for a young family.  It's got everything and will cost you less.

My recommendation would be to have a good look around Benalmadena Pueblo, I just love the place. If you were to pop into the bar that is situated under the La Fonda Hotel, you will find that it also doubles as the community centre, it's clientele are normally very knowledgeable and helpful to strangers. A great meal of the day of tapas for €7.50 (the ribs are superb) can be found at the bar situated at the corner of the town square.

Good luck.      

How on earth is that advice useful for a young family travelling 1000s of miles risking there security etc to start a new life and you tell them they can get a cheap meal in a bar full of drunken locals in a remote village 

What a numpty head 

Reply to keyboard warrior.

The Pueblo is anything but remote, with easy and very speedy links to Malaga and the coastal resorts.

The OP mentioned Benalmadena, or did you miss that?

The Pueblo has normal people as residents, not drunken yobs, decent schools and is a lot cheaper to eat out in than the coastal  resorts.

I suppose that I must apologise for mentioning where the community centre is situated.

Get your act together dick head. 

Arian,  sorry but I think you are  being naive if you think your post will provide info upon which you could reasonably base a decision, and your question is somewhat too vague.  I.e.just picking a town name, rather than apart of a town,

Example

I have known Benalmadena since 1983, when I bought a studio about 750 m  inland from the coast, and I lived in the Pueblo for 15 years  

 ‘Benalmadena’ consistS of very different parts.  'Chalk and cheese' even.  

On the coast is Benalmadena Costa, about 8 km long with some very touristy parts and some quite rural. 

Then inland, up hill, about 1.5K is Arroyo de la Miel.  Over the past 30 years that has grown, from a small village and now sprawls into the mass of built up areas. 

4k further up hill, at about 240 m,  lies Benalmadena Pueblo.   The original village which still maintains much of traditional Spain, although of course also caterets for tourists.     

Within the municipality there are a couple of up market urbanizations and others which are more rural and more ‘out of the way’.

Knowing it so well, I chose, in my circumstances, not to make Benalmadena my permanent home.  After my exerience there, I lived in a more remote part along the coast for a couple of years and now for the past 13 years have lived within a town close to all the amenities I need.  

I do not have sufficient knowledge of Marbella and Estepona to meaning fully comment on them,

I would suggest that if you are serious about a move then come to Spain and see for yourself,  Only you know what will suit you,   and ask locals, but bear in mind their view may be somewhat parochial.

I would not try and put anyone of for filing a dream but you will have to bring plenty money with you and be prepared to spend all of it to live that dream most people save up a load of money go over to Spain get a job cleaning swimming pools or work in a bar for cash in hand then the money they brought runs out after about two years and then they go back home the people I am referring to are single with no ties I would not like to say how long you and your family would last so bring plenty of money with you good luck .

This message was last edited by windtalker on 02/11/2014.

A 25 year old realist with 2 young children and  a bank account most of us would dream of is asking questions re location on a forum. Something doesn't compute........

This seems a funny thread - never seen so many dislikes for what seems to me as being reasonable comments.  The latest from Floella seems a fair call to me.

Arian is certainly doing exceptionally well for himself - all happened at an early age too, allegedly.  I suspect he may end up being another of these "one hit wonders" we get on EOS.

All that I'll add is that if he chooses the wrong location property can be very difficult to sell these days, I would pick an area and road test it by renting, he can then walk away from it at the end of his lease if it doesn't measure up to his expectations.

Yes I agree Hugh Jardon spotted it straight away this bogus caller

Hughs posts seem very knowlegable and sound but he seems to get a lot of bad press, sometimes people just want to here what they want to here, he just pulls no punches and gives it to them straight John zx is the same I find knows he knows his stuff and the Malaga areas well

I must say it seems very far fetched this post and if you had that sort of money you would engage a professional to advise you.

Just my thoughts

Rod

Telling it 'like it is' or straight talking is very different from  saying someone is inventing things.   Can you really not see situations when young people have plenty of money? Inherited.  Stock market.  Lottery. Taking over a family business.  Property (and then there are the more shadey ones...).   And if you think he is a wum, then just ignore him - don't troll him.    I can understand the thumbs down because some of the stuff is offensive. Johnzx is telling it like it is.   Too many others are just saying he is telling lies.  People will say anything on a forum, without the slightest bit of evidence.   And if he is a one hit wonder as someone says, that would be no surprise because of  the welcome he has been given.  

If Hugh Jordon still thinks that Benalmadena Pueblo is a remote village full of drunken locals, then he knows nothing about the Malaga area at all.

"Hughs posts seem very knowlegable and sound but he seems to get a lot of bad press"

Having lived on the coast for 32 years I would say Hugh's posts are anything but knowledgeable. Perhaps he gets "a lot of bad press" because of his overbearing and agressive manner.

Out of the 3 places Estepona would be the most adequate for practically every reason you can think of.

I can't see why some think the post is in some way "phony", what is to be gained? My nephew was a millionaire at the age of 28, buying and selling shares on the internet. He couldn't put two words together without making a spelling mistake. So what?

Actually most mega rich people start to make it big in their 20's, I reckon that they have no fear and love the risk, I had some cracking ideas when in my 20's, sadly I hadn't got the bottle to see them through. 

You get at least one ,I whant to live in Spain post every month some of them have absalootley crasey business ideas like the one that wanted to start a Chinese rickshaw business in the summer time when the temp can reach 50+ .